Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The Norwich North Candidates' Debate

Last night Look East streamed a live debate between the main four contenders in Norwich North. I haven't had time to watch it yet, apart from the introduction. Watch April Pond flinch at the mention of her moat.

I'm off out for the evening, but let me know what you think of the debate, which you can watch HERE.

I know your not April Pond's greatest fan Iain but surely you must agree that her introduction was horribly prejudicial. The moderator didn't Chloe Smith's central office connections for example. Not that I think there is anything shameful in either case just that it seemed a bit unfair on Ms Pond to be introduced as 'living in some style'.

Fascinating stuff. Thanks for the link Iain. I think there's one obvious lesson to draw from the debate: If that audience was in any way representative then the Greens are going to do very well and may even be second on Thursday. I'm not a Green party supporter and never will be but both the content & tenor of the questions suggested a strong support for heir issues. Rupert Read is also an impressive performer. (In fact I think both he and Chloe Smith would be worthy members of the HoC).

I thought there was a lot of disquiet at what the Green candidate had to say. They really didn't like him accusing Chloe of Thatcherism. Still I'm glad he was there as it made for a more interesting discussion.

I grew up in Norfolk, so here’s my pennyworth. What a very poor foursome, none really inspired. Chloe Smith was on Central Office don’t say anything contentious cue card response, and look glam (which she did); the Labour guy stumbled through every answer and seemingly wanted to distance himself from almost all Labour Party policy over the last 12 years. The Moat person (a genuine Norfolk lass - that accent sends me back 20 years) was tepid, and now I understand why the LibDems wanted to get a celebrity heavy hitter in there. The only person with a brain was the Green. Unfortunately his ideas, like much else about his party, were hopeless. We are going to run out of the ability to generate the required electricity in this country in about 10-15 years. No amount of cladding the loft (have we not already been doing that?) and sticking up a few hundred wind turbines is going to counter that. Gibson would have eaten that lot for breakfast, and I wasn’t exactly a fan..

Nice legs do not a successful PPC make. But it cannot be denied, especially not by, er, mature gentlemen such as me, that they go a long way. Not quite up to her armpits, but getting there. Meanwhile April Moat in her luminous green jacket reminded me of a giant frog, for some reason.

I fell over laughing when I read Norfolk Blogger's opinion that the Brown-Balls Broadcasting Corporation is biased towards the Conservatives. Great stuff, very amusing. Not many people outside Norfolk would share this view. But maybe that's what "normal for Norfolk" means?

I just watched the debate and thought it was very tame apart from one thing. At the start Chloe Smith was sitting just like Kenny Everett's Cupid Stunt. I continued watching in the hope she would do the time honoured crossing of the legs and pronounce, "It's all done in the best possible taste.". Sadly, it was not to be, maybe next time.

I would liked to have seen the issue of cuts and public spending discussed more during the debate. The Labour candidate's response on the issue was poor at best and also seemed rehearsed.The Lib Dem candidate should be given more credit - she seemed more in touch with the ordinary voter but again failed to have made her case.The Tory PPC did seem natural to the extent she could string a good sentence together but again found her responses rehearsed. Would have been interesting to see what her thoughts were on the unitary issue! However she held her own in her response to the question of Thatcherism. Point scored there! The Greens - Rupert Read PPC good debater, willing to not pander to public opinion - even if it makes him unpopular. However a touch arrogant.

I found that some of the individuals in the audience were not just individual members of the electorate but district and county councillors. One of the individuals sitting was actually a member of my own Norwich City Council.

To sum up the debate itself:I think that there was far too much attention given to eco-towns (although its still an important issue). More attention could have be given to the economy and core issues but liked the fact there was a debate about local issues.

If I make a prediction - the Labour vote might collapse to third or even fourth place resulting in a huge Tory majority. Lib Dems and Greens will split the traditional Labour vote and the minor parties will also take votes away from the other mainstream parties.